The Voice 3: Top 12 Performance and Results

Image: 'A Cee Lo Green Study in Bling' 
Found on flickrcc.net

It is the live rounds and a lot of rule changes taking place this season. From hereon in, the power shifts completely to the public. The coaches lost the power to save their favored artists.  After the votes are casts, two artist will be eliminated irregardless of any team whatsoever. So it is a possibility of a coach or two having no artist represent him or her in the final four. That would surely be a bummer for any of the coaches if none in the their team reach the finals. Let's wait and see how they would take this ego crushing scenario. So with this, I am choosing my top 4 artist each week. Here is my take on the performances and results of this round.

The best from all the rest...

Trevin Hunte #TeamCeeLo

Trevin Hunte: "When a Man Loves a Woman" - The Voice

Cee Lo's top dogg  is back! Trevin Hunte is just spectacular. He took everyone to church from beginning to end. Way to go, Trevin!

Melanie Martinez #TeamAdam

Melanie haunts us with Young the Giant's "Cough Syrup."

This is the Melanie Martinez that I like. I love Melanie when she takes on weird and poetic songs. Her voice and her take on songs like this makes her unique. That makes her interesting to listen and I would listen to her singing this song all day long.

Sylvia Yacoub #TeamChristina

Sylvia does a stellar rendition of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."

Sylvia is showing she is the top female vocalist on Christina's team. A stellar performance on a very difficult to sing Celine Dion song. She did really really well. She even sounded a bit like her mentor. Christina must be so proud of her apprentice. 

Terry McDermott #TeamBlake

Terry rocks on Boston's "More Than a Feeling."

This is a perfect song choice for Terry. I like Terry's voice when its way up there. However, there are some bullets that missed the mark. His voice seem to struggled to hit some of the high notes. Nevertheless, he was so amazing to watch. Yes to more rock and to more Terry in the coming rounds.

It's alright, it's okay; they made it anyway...

Cassadee Pope #TeamBlake

Cassadee sings her heart out with Kelly Clarkson's "Behind These Hazel Eyes."

I like Cassadee when she is rocking with a guitar. It makes you feel you are on a concert. Well, she's been there before. Her rock influence shines through. She has a natural shakiness in her voice that I like. And that high note near the end, sensational! I wish she did hold it, though, all through out. Nevertheless, a very good performance from her.

Nicholas David #TeamCeeLo

St Nick grooves to Huey Lewis' "The Power of Love."

Nicholas is giving us a lesson in old school music. He performs like a man possessed with music and that makes him contagious. His moves are a bit in a quirky side but very entertaining. However, I wish St. Nick could open his eyes when he sings and interact more with the audience.

Cody Belew #TeamCeeLo

Cody slows things down with a Tina Turner classic, "The Best."

This is a very subdued performance from Cody. He sings good his voice inaudible or drown in the lower parts of the song. It was not a perfect fit, however, his enigmatic stage presence does shines through for him all the time. I think he delivers more 'bam bam' when he sings up tempo songs. 

Amanda Brown #TeamAdam

Amanda takes on Florence + the Machine's "Spectrum."

Oh Amanda what went wrong. I was a bit of a disaster. First, she started very low. Then her voice sounds strained and she couldn't reach the higher notes. She did a lot of arm swaying as well, kinda like a jellyfish swimming in the deep blue sea. But she looked great and sexy in her dress. I hope we get a more stellar Amanda next week.

Bryan Keith #TeamAdam

Bryan puts a soulful touch to Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black."

Way to go Keith! I like his soulful rendition of this song. He makes singing look so easy. However, no matter how pleasing it was to the ears, I can't help myself from inhaling some air and stretching my eardrums. Boredom starts creeping in. I wish he could do more than sing slow rock or ballad songs. He needs to do something different next time. 

Dez Duron #TeamChristina

Dez on stage with "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."

Dez is becoming quite the consummate balladeer . He never fails to make the ladies in the audience scream. He did his own thing with this song so it was kinda alright for me.

The one that got away...

Michaela Page #TeamBlake

Michaela's take on Pink's "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)."

Michaela started low and shaky, however, she brought out that sassy punk rock chick and delivered a solid performance at the end. This girl is a trooper. Too bad she didn't get the votes she needed to cross over to the next round. I would have liked to see more of her. I am gonna miss her Mohawk and all.

A definitely bye bye...

Adriana Louise #TeamChristina

Adriana sings her twist to Carrie Underwood's "Good Girl."

Adriana was one of my favorites at the blinds. However, she seem to have lost her magic moving forward in the competition. I think she can sing any song she likes and make good run with it. The problem, however, is that she doesn't seem to make us stand up in awe. Yeah, it is time to say goodbye.

The Voice 3 Knockout Round: Team Adam and Team Cee Lo

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Who's in and who's out?

It is the knockout round. I am sad that half of these talented singers will be cut. There are too many of them I like. But from hereon in who will be left are those which the judges would consider as true artist. Those who has the wow factor and sell lots of records. So on with the show and some of my thoughts on who is in and who's leaving.



Team Adam Levine

Joselyn Rivera vs Kayla Nevarez
Song choice: "Woman on Top" / "Shark in the Water"

Between the two, Joselyn picked a more difficult route with a Beyonce song. Joselyn also put more effort into his performance while. I think Kayla is still stuck in doing the same performance she did in the audition round. So, what do people get when they take the extra initiative? A reward. Joselyn goes forward to the live shows.


Joe Kirkland vs Bryan Keith
Song choice: "Mean" / "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)"

Unlike the first the first match-up in Adam's Team, taking risk doesn't translate into winning the prize. Joe took risks with a brilliant rendition of "Mean". I think he had the upper hand there, but raw talent is what Adam saw in Bryan. Moving forward, Bryan should leave his comfort zone of singing ballad rock songs and spread his wings a little. Surprise us Adam.

Amanda Brown vs Michelle Brookes-Thompson
Song choice: "Paris (Ooh La La)" / "Spotlight"

For me, this battle is even-steven. It looks like a difficult choice. Let's break it down. Both singers have huge awesome voices. I think Michelle made the better song choice. She also made beautiful runs and highs with it. There are also some lows and pitch issues. Amanda, on the other hand, has a sense of control and ease in her performance. She was consistent and sure. In the end, Amanda won Adam's favor.

 Loren Allred vs Nicole Nelson
Song choice: "You know I'm No Good" / "If I Ain't Got You"

When this pairing was sealed, I thought Loren would be saying goodbye. I thought she wasn't that good because of the little airtime given to her in the previous rounds. Nicole, however, was a very strong contender from the start. Talk about 4 button pushes at the audition round. She was amazing. And she still was with the Alisha Keys song. But things do turn around. In an instance, Loren was first and gave the performance of her life. And what a breakthrough. Strong start, awesome finish. She got her ticket to the next round. Good for Loren. Sorry for Nicole.

Melanie Martinez vs Sam James
Song choice: "Bulletproof" / "Walking in Memphis"

Sometimes you know who is going to win before the battle starts. And in this battle, Melanie has it in the bag. She didn't disappointing. Give it to Melanie for choosing an obscure song and putting her stamp on it.

This is how I see Team Adam in rank:

    

Team Cee Lo Green

Avery Wilson vs Cody Below
Song Choice: "Yeah 3x / "Jolene"

Among the teams, Cee Lo's group is the most diverse in genre. And with that, you will end up with odd parings such as this. Avery - the hip hop dance protege versus Cody - the stylized country crooner. How can you compare these two? Initially, I thought Avery got this in the bag. He would make a wonderful performance like his look-a-like Chris Brown. It didn't happen. Must have been too much dancing that made him sounds odd and out of breath. Cody, however, made a bizarre rendition of a love triangle song. That made it intriguing and, at the same time, surprisingly convincing. Avery has a great future ahead of him and that is not something to feel sorry for.


MacKenzie Bourg vs Daniel Rosa
Song choice: "Call Me Maybe" / "Back to December"

I am so split at this pairing. MacKenzie is a singer-songwriter. He is like the Borg who can assimilate any song and make it his own. Daniel, on the other hand, sings with his heart on a sleeve. Even though he sings on the edge of doubt, he creates magic with notes and slurs.  I like these two stylize singers. But in his at this point, one must go and one must move forward. I feel for Daniel but I think Cee Lo made a better choice in MacKenzie.

Terisa Griffin vs Trevin Hunte
Song choice: "Saving All My Love for You" / "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)

What happened to Terisa's leg? Did she had too much Conga with her buddy Julio? Just kidding. With this Whitney Houston song, she was in her element. But who would deny Trevin? Against All Odds has been his message all through out this competition. Another brilliant performance from Trevin. Momma Terisa was so proud.

Mycle Wastman vs Nicholas David
Song choice: "Don't Let the Sun Go Donw on Me" / "Put Your Record On"

I love the voices of these two good guys. Mycle sings ballads like a pro while St. Nick sings from the heart. Now, who is more entertaining? Who has more edge than the other? St. Nick tickles my soul.

Caitlin Michelle vs Diego Val
Song choice: "Bring Me To Life" / "Are You Gonna Go My Way"

I love Caitlin's voice. No doubt she is the better singer than Diego. So what happened to this pairing? Caitlin has just done what is familiar to her. She sings wonderful but similar to Evanescence. Knockoffs are great but it doesn't beat the original. Diego knows this so he stayed true to himself.

 This how would I rank Team Cee Lo:

    

Next up is Team Christina and Team Blake